A woman who had 70 operations after strangers doused her in acid while she was volunteering in Zanzibar now feels "confident" in her scars."

Katie Gee, 29, was just 18 and travelling in Stone Town when two men on a motorbike threw acid at her in an unprovoked attack.

Katie suffered 35 per cent burns to the right side of her face, and body and her right ear was "burnt to a crisp" and she had 70 procedures over the next three years to recover."

She spent the first few years after the attack "uncomfortable" with her new appearance but has now found "confidence" with her scars."

Katie, who has a background in real estate, from north west London, said: "I remember going out for lunch and bumped into a friend's sister and she didn't recognise me."

"Now if someone wants to stares I will just stare back and make them feel very uncomfortable."

"I don't have any shame anymore."

"I'm in a good place."

"I'm showing me confident in my scars."

Katie was volunteering in Zanzibar in August 2018 when she went out for dinner with her friend.

She said: "I was on the way and two men on a motorbike came past."

"They stopped for half a second."

"I was about to turn to say 'what do they want?' and as I was turning back they threw it."

"I tried to wipe my eyes. I tried to read the number plate."

"It started to burn straight away. I wasn't sure at first if it was a really hot pot of coffee."

"I had heard of Katie Piper. I put two and two together."

Katie remembered a restaurant she had been to previously had a shower and ran to it and was shocked when she saw her face and body in the mirror.

She said: "It was a yellow, green colour."

"I was wearing baggy trousers, trainers and a t-shirt and hoodie."

"The acid was burning through the hoodie and burnt off the trousers."

"My ear got burnt off. They said it had burnt off like a crisp."

Katie had 35 per cent burns and spent two-and-a-half months in the burns unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

She said: "They want all the burnt skin off you."

Katie initially had lots of blood transfusions and donor skin placed on her body.

She then spent the next three years in and out of hospital undergoing 70 operations - such as 12 hour long skin graft surgeries.

She had to wear a plastic face mask for three years and didn't have a right ear for that time - while they waited for the scars to heal to reconstruct one.

Katie found the year after the attack the hardest.

She said: "The scars contract. That's when they scars are really red and bumpy."

"I had the face mask to put on for most of the day."

"Surgeons wanted to shave my head and use the skin from my scalp."

"I said 'I need hair'."

"That was the only part that feels nice."

"It helped me leave the house. "

"It was hard for me - I was on my own for three years."

Katie finally had her ear reconstructed in 2015 - using cartilage from her ribs and skin from her scalp.

She said: "I had a bunch of surgeries. I got a new eye lid built."

"I didn't have an ear for over three years."

"[The reconstruction] It made me feel normal. I was looking more like myself."

Katie went onto graduate from Nottingham University with a 2:1 in sociology and has spent the last five years in real estate but has recently left her job to figure out a new career path.

It took a while for Katie to find the confidence to date again but she is now in a relationship with Michael, 29.

She said: "It took a while to realise people can still fancy me."

"He is really nice and really sweet."

"He'll compliment me all the time - even if I'm looking hideous."

The culprit - who "smiled" before dousing Katie - has never been caught over the attack in the main city Stone Town."

Katie said: "It is still something I think about every day."

"Every time I look in the mirror I can see it."

"It's still something that affects me all the time."

Katie has now started sharing her story on TikTok to help others with body confidence and sharing her tips - such as the best make-up for scarred skin.

She said: "I want to be a body positive person who is confident in her scars."